The word 'critical" has three meanings which are dangerous, important, and disapproving. The purpose of this blog is to examine important or over-looked cultural, political, artistic, or historical issues of our time. Also, this blog is intended to be educational.

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Great Thinkers, Great Thoughts: Socrates

Socrates

Synopsis

We know of his life through the writings of his
students, including Plato and Xenophon. His "Socratic method," laid
the groundwork for Western systems of logic and philosophy. When the political
climate of Greece turned, Socrates was sentenced to death by hemlock poisoning
in 399 BC. He accepted this judgment rather than fleeing into exile.

Early Years

Born circa 470 BC in Athens, Greece, Socrates's life is
chronicled through only a few sources—the dialogues of Plato and Xenophon and
the plays of Aristophanes. Because these writings had other purposes than
reporting his life, it is likely none present a completely accurate picture.
However, collectively, they provide a unique and vivid portrayal of Socrates's
philosophy and personality.

Socrates was the son of Sophroniscus, an Athenian stone
mason and sculptor, and Phaenarete, a midwife. Because he wasn't from a noble
family, he probably received a basic Greek education and learned his father's
craft at a young age. It is believed Socrates worked as mason for many years
before he devoted his life to philosophy. Contemporaries differ in their
account of how Socrates supported himself as a philosopher. Both Xenophon and
Aristophanes state Socrates received payment for teaching, while Plato writes
Socrates explicitly denied accepting payment, citing his poverty as proof.

Socrates married Xanthippe, a younger woman, who bore him
three sons - Lamprocles, Sophroniscus and Menexenus. There is little known
about her except for Xenophon's characterization of Xanthippe as
"undesirable." He writes she was not happy with Socrates's second
profession and complained that he wasn’t supporting family as a philosopher. By
his own words, Socrates had little to do with his sons' upbringing and
expressed far more interest in the intellectual development of Athens' young
boys.

Athenian law required all able bodied males serve as
citizen soldiers, on call for duty from ages 18 until 60. According to Plato,
Socrates served in the armored infantry - known as the hoplite -[ with shield,
long spear and face mask. He participated in three military campaigns during
the Peloponnesian War, at Delium, Amphipolis, and Potidaea, where he saved the
life of Alcibiades, a popular Athenian general. Socrates was known for his
courage in battle and fearlessness, a trait that stayed with him throughout his
life. After his trial, he compared his refusal to retreat from his legal
troubles to a soldier's refusal to retreat from battle when threatened with
death.

Plato's Symposiumprovides the best
details of Socrates's physical appearance. He was not the ideal of Athenian
masculinity. Short and stocky, with a snub nose and bulging eyes, Socrates
always seemed to appear to be staring. However, Plato pointed out that in the
eyes of his students, Socrates possessed a different kind of attractiveness,
not based on a physical ideal but on his brilliant debates and penetrating
thought. Socrates always emphasized the importance of the mind over the
relative unimportance of the human body. This credo inspired Plato’s philosophy
of dividing reality into two separate realms, the world of the senses and the
world of ideas, declaring that the latter was the only important one.

Seated Socrates (sculpture)

Philosopher

Socrates believed that philosophy should achieve
practical results for the greater well-being of society. He attempted to
establish an ethical system based on human reason rather than theological
doctrine. He pointed out that human choice was motivated by the desire for
happiness. Ultimate wisdom comes from knowing oneself. The more a person knows,
the greater his or her ability to reason and make choices that will bring true
happiness. Socrates believed that this translated into politics with the best
form of government being neither a tyranny nor a democracy. Instead, government
worked best when ruled by individuals who had the greatest ability, knowledge,
and virtue and possessed a complete understanding of themselves.

For Socrates, Athens was a
classroom and he went about asking questions of the elite and common man alike,
seeking to arrive at political and ethical truths. Socrates didn’t lecture
about what he knew. In fact, he claimed to be ignorant because he had no ideas,
but wise because he recognized his own ignorance. He asked questions of his
fellow Athenians in a dialectic method (the Socratic Method) which compelled
the audience to think through a problem to a logical conclusion. Sometimes the
answer seemed so obvious, it made Socrates's opponents look foolish. For this,
he was admired by some and vilified by others.

During Socrates's life,
Athens was going through a dramatic transition from hegemony in the classical
world to its decline after a humiliating defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian
War. Athenians entered a period of instability and doubt about their identity
and place in the world. As a result, they clung to past glories, notions of
wealth, and a fixation with physical beauty. Socrates attacked these values
with his insistent emphasis on the greater importance of the mind. While many
Athenians admired Socrates's challenges to Greek conventional wisdom and the
humorous way he went about it, an equal number grew angry and felt he
threatened their way of life and uncertain future.

Execution

The jury was not swayed by
Socrates's defense and convicted him by a vote of 280 to 221. Possibly the
defiant tone of his defense contributed to the verdict and he made things worse
during the deliberation over his punishment. Athenian law allowed a convicted
citizen to propose an alternative punishment to the one called for by the
prosecution and the jury would decide. Instead of proposing he be exiled,
Socrates suggested he be honored by the city for his contribution to their
enlightenment and be paid for his services. The jury was not amused and
sentenced him to death by drinking a mixture of poison hemlock.

The Death Of Socrates (painting)

Before Socrates's
execution, friends offered to bribe the guards and rescue him so he could flee
into exile. He declined, stating he wasn't afraid of death, felt he would be no
better off if in exile and said he was still a loyal citizen of Athens, willing
to abide by its laws, even the ones that condemned him to death. Plato
described Socrates's execution in his Phaedo dialogue:
Socrates drank the hemlock mixture without hesitation. Numbness slowly crept
into his body until it reached his heart. Shortly before his final breath,
Socrates described his death as a release of the soul from the body.

Plato (statue)

___________________________________

Quotes by Socrates

An unexamined life
is not worth living.

True knowledge
exists in knowing that you know nothing.

To find yourself,
think for yourself.

The greatest way to live with honor in this world is to be
what we pretend to be.

The
only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.

By
all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad
one, you'll become a philosopher.

Death
may be the greatest of all human blessings.

From
the deepest desires often come the deadliest hate.

Worthless
people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.

He
is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.

Wisdom begins in
wonder.

Be as you wish to
seem.

Be
slow to fall into friendship; but when thou art in, continue firm and constant.

One
who is injured ought not to return the injury, for on no account can it be
right to do an injustice; and it is not right to return an injury, or to do
evil to any man, however much we have suffered from him.

False
words are not only evil in themselves, but they infect the soul with evil.